Harriman-Jewell Series Spotlight

Metropolitan Opera star is Visiting Artist at Jewell

Joyce DiDonato, Kansas City darling turned opera star, sang, taught and talked in free public appearances in February on the William Jewell College campus. DiDonato’s appointment was underwritten by the Harriman-Jewell Series, the acclaimed presenting organization that began at the college in 1965.

The vivacious mezzo’s public appearances began on Valentine’s Day as a soloist for the William Jewell College Chapel Service in Gano Chapel. DiDonato also led a vocal master class of pre-selected students that was open for public observation. Later in the week, DiDonato led a public conversation in Gano Chapel, just before a free screening of the filmed Paris Opera production of Handel’s Hercules, in which DiDonato stars as Dejanira, the wife of Hercules.

DiDonato’s visiting artist appointment is the first of its kind for the Harriman-Jewell Series and for the college. In addition to the scheduled public events, DiDonato offered private tutoring to vocal performance students of the college. “I treasure the chance to be a resource to young students and hope it was a growing experience for us all,” DiDonato said.

DiDonato recently received a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for “Outstanding Achievement in Opera” for her performance in Hercules at the Barbican Center in London. She has won many awards and honors, including the 2002 Richard Tucker Award, bestowed upon a single American singer annually. She placed second in Plácido Domingo’s Operalia, and has received prizes from the George London Foundation, the ARIA Awards and the Sullivan Foundation.

Joyce DiDonato has a home in Kansas City, Mo., and grew up in Prairie Village, Kan. She has been presented in recital by the Harriman-Jewell Series twice in the last four performance seasons. The “mezzo from the Midwest” made her “silver screen” debut March 24, as part of the Metropolitan Opera’s live digital broadcast of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville to theaters around the globe.Three Kansas City-area theaters hosted the simulcast screenings.